The internally displaced persons in Nigeria’s volatile north-east have asked the government to begin the process of disarmament after peace negotiations have yielded the desired result.
Expressing fears that the ceasefire agreement was not yielding expected results, they said that the disarmament would ensure a lasting peace in the region that had witnessed series of attacks by members of the Boko Haram sect in the last five years.
Renewed Attacks
Some of the displaced persons who spoke to Channels Television in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, said that they had received the news of the ongoing negotiation between the government and the insurgents with cautious optimism.
Their caution is as a result of continued attacks on towns in Borno State after the ceasefire agreement was announced on Friday.
In view of the renewed attacks on villages in the three north-eastern state, some Borno Elders had expressed doubts that the ceasefire agreement was reached with the genuine leadership of the Boko Haram sect.
Some see the deal as a breath of fresh air while some are sceptical of the truce.
The Secretary of the Borno Elders Forum, Bulama Mali Gubio, said their scepticism was hinged on the non-inclusion of the relevant players from the region in the negotiation process and the fact that the announcement of the ceasefire was made by the Federal Government alone.
While hoping the ceasefire agreement will achieve the desired objectives, the elders of the area believe that the Federal Government needs to assist those displaced by the insurgency and ensure that villages and towns earlier captured by the sect are recovered.
They called on the government to make the towns habitable and safe for the people to go back to their normal lives
